The Time Lord Lives
by NinjaMayhewe
Summary: Sequel to The Time Lord Confused.  A multi-crossover with Harry Potter, Final Fantasy VII and Warhammer 40k to name  few.  To be continued in The Edge of the Continuum.
1. The Symphony Continues

The Time Lord Lives

A fanfiction by T.L.C. Productions

Written by Ninjamayhewe

Chapter 1

_The Professor exploded into a blaze of golden light. The people around him, his companions, stared in shock as the man they knew was burned away. After what seemed like hours, though it could have easily only been seconds, the man crumpled and righted himself. Short, blonde hair covered his ears and one of his eyes. _

"_Hello," he said to the group, smiling. _

Rosie couldn't believe it. The Professor, her friend – the first one she'd had since she'd lost her home, had vanished in a burst of golden light and left this new man in his place. She stared for a second at the blonde replacement Professor.

"Who are you," she asked, glaring at the man. He smiled at her.

"It's me. The Professor," he said. Rosie shook her head.

"No. No, you can't be. What'd you do to him?" She stepped closer to him, fear and anger at war within her. "Bring the Professor back right now."

The man smiled nervously, stepping closer to Rosie. "Rosie," he said. "When we met, before we picked up Billie and Athena, you asked me why I picked you to travel with me over everyone else in Midgar and I told you that you seemed out of place like you needed to find your place." The girl looked up at the Professor.

"How," she asked.

"I was dying. To save myself, I changed. Had to. I'm not ready for the great beyond yet." He smiled, running a hand through his much shorter hair. His eyes lit up. "My hair! What happened? It's blonde! Why blonde?" He smiled at his companions, holding his arms out.

"Well, how do I look? Apart from blonde."

"You look…different," said Billie, adjusting her glasses on her nose. Beside her, Athena nodded silently. The Professor looked at Rosie, unsure.

"Is different good? I've never done this before." He looked down at his body. "I mean…I have all the right parts and everything. My face isn't shaped weird, is it?" He reached up, his hands feeling his face. "No," he said. "Ears, eyes, nose, mouth…everything seems to be in place…chin's a bit weak, but oh well." Rosie stared at him.

"Can you change back," the girl asked. The Professor looked uncertainly at her, seeing the anxiety in her eyes.

"No," he said quietly. "A regeneration can't be reversed. Once it's done, it's done."

"Can't you…I dunno…go back and stop that woman from stabbing you," asked Athena, eyeing the new Professor with a certain amount of distaste.

"No. I can't interfere with my own timeline. If something happens to us, I can't change it." The Professor looked around at his companions. "Come on," he said. "All I did was change. It's still me." He put a hand on his chest. "Back on Gallifrey, this sort of thing was a minor occurrence. I swear." He turned to the control panel of the TARDIS.

"Where do we go now," he asked, his back to them. He looked at the controls, his vision blurring and going dark for an instant. He looked around, finding himself on the floor. Stern and Rosie were at his side.

"Sir," said Stern, the armored giant bowing his head reverently. "Perhaps you need rest." The Professor nodded.

"Right," said the Time Lord weakly. "Should have figured, really. First regeneration was bound to have some sort of effect, wasn't it?" He pulled himself up, with the help of Rosie and Stern. He grabbed the console, flipping switches.

"Where are we going, Doc," said Athena, gaining a look from the Professor; he hated being called 'Doc'

"Midgar. We'll be safe there."

[a/n- Well, things will start coming together now.


	2. But tonight we dance

Vincent Valentine heard the sound of the TARDIS for the second time in his life. He leapt up, sprinting to the location of the noise. As he stood there, it appeared. Its apparition was unlike a summoning, but rather a gradual fading in and out, becoming more solid each time it faded in. With an audible _thunk_ it settled into place, a silvery metallic sphere undistinguished in the ruins of Midgar.

The doors swung open, and a tall, blonde man in ill-fitted clothes stumbled out, leaning against the door for support as he looked around, a grin on his face.

"Made it," he sighed, smiling around. An armor clad giant stepped out of the TARDIS, watching the blonde with reverent worry. The giant's face was scarred, his left eye replaced with a glowing red cybernetic one. It was a feature Vincent had seen on several people before. Next were two girls in similar school uniforms, though with different colors; one, the girl wore a cloak lined in green, her tie green and silver. She was slightly taller, her longer hair tied back in a ponytail. The other girl sported a yellow lined cloak and yellow and black tie, her hair trimmed short. Both girls wore glasses. A taller man followed the girls. He was taller than the blonde, but still shorter by far than the giant. He wore a dark brown cloak over tan robes, a silver tube shaped device attached to his belt.

The blonde stumbled as he stepped away from the doors, only to be caught by the giant, who helped him stay on his feet. The TARDIS doors closed as the final person exited. It was a small, caramel skinned girl. She wore a tight fitting red dress with black tights covering her legs. Over the dress was a light yellow jacket with what looked to be metal shoulder pads. She wore a bracelet with a small key attached to it.

_Rosie_ grabbed the TARDIS key she wore around her neck, carefully locking the doors behind her. The Professor was still talking about how he only needed some rest after regenerating because he was still cooking. The keyblade wielder strode forward, grabbing the Professor's shoulder and looking up at him.

"If you need a rest," she said. "Shut up about it and we'll find a place for you to rest." She looked around, trying to get her bearings. "Alright," she said, facing to the right of the TARDIS. She strode forward, looking to the armored giant.

"Stern," she said authoritatively. "Carry the Doc." The Professor looked from her to Stern, raising an eyebrow.

"I can walk, Rosie," said the Professor. He then stumbled, falling to the ground. Stern hoisted him into the air.

"Sorry about this, sir," he said. "But it is for your own good after all." The Professor glared at him and Rosie.

_The Professor_ awoke in a bed, though he wasn't entirely certain where. Most likely in Midgar or Edge, though that was the only certainty. He sat up, looking around. His clothes had been changed to a set of black pajamas. On a bedside table, he saw his sonic screwdriver, goggles and the various detritus that had littered his pockets.

Pi-edi sat in a chair across the room. "How're you feeling," he asked, not moving to stand. The Professor nodded, smiling.

"Much better, thanks," he said, getting out of the bed. The Time Lord stretched, brushing his hair out of his face, only to have it fall back into it. "Where'd everyone else go?"

"They went into town to look for a friend of Rosie's. She said she knew the city well," said the Jedi, leaning back in his chair. "If I may ask," he said. "Where is your world? Would it not have been easier to go there for you to rest?" The Professor's eyes darkened.

"It's gone," he said, turning to the door. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"What happened," said the Jedi gingerly.

"Eddy," said the Professor, an edge coming into his voice. "Drop it. My home doesn't matter anymore."

_Edge _had grown since Rosie had left it that was certain. Where before, the ruins of Midgar had been the most striking feature of the area, now the city had almost overtaken the ashes of its predecessors. Rosie strode through the streets, finding her way easily enough despite the growth of the city.

Beside her, Athena and Billie looked at the young city in amusement. Stern was several feet back, looking like a monstrous golem with his helmet on and chainsword slung over his shoulder. The witches had been eager to explore this world and, with the Professor unconscious, Rosie saw no problem with showing them around the town. Stern had, at first wanted to stay with the Time Lord, but at Pi-edi's urging, had left with the girls as extra protection. Not that any of them needed it, but Rosie had to admit that it was nice of the Jedi to be concerned about their wellbeing, even if Stern was a little more intimidating than was helpful.

"Oh, wow," said Billie. Rosie had been lost in thought so badly that she almost jumped when the Hufflepuff had spoken. They had come to the end of the road and, while the city ended, they could see a building in the distance. There was what looked like a spaceship attached to the building somehow, standing up on its tail. The ship was massive, even from a distance that was obvious.

"That," said Rosie. "Wasn't there last time." She looked back at Stern. "I think we should tell the Professor," she told the giant. Stern nodded his agreement.


	3. You're gonna go far, kid

Drake Delacroix sat in his room, sharpening his sword as usual for a day when he had no work to do. Not, he mused, that there was often work for an ex S.O.L.D.I.E.R. these days. There was a knock at his front door, something that he wasn't expecting, though with luck it would be someone looking to hire him. He opened the door to see two Shinra suits staring at him.

"What do you want," he asked gruffly, crossing his arms. The suits exchanged a glance before the one on the right said, in a gravelly voice,

"President Shinra needs a S.O.L.I.D.E.R. We came to request your services." Drake stepped away from the door, but didn't invite the Turks in. Not that he needed to; they walked in after him anyway. Drake picked up the sunglasses he had left on the table next to his sword and whetstone.

"What's the pay," he asked.

"One hundred seventy-five thousand for two weeks," said one of the suits – Drake didn't care which, he was looking away.

"What's the job," asked the S.O.L.I.D.E.R. He wasn't a fool, after all.

"Security. We just need you to keep a certain facility locked down for a couple weeks."

"And the chances that I'll actually have to bleed for this…whatever it is?" The Turks exchanges another glance.

"Almost none," said one.

_The Professor _grabbed a tie from the pile hanging over the mirror in front of him, examining it for a second before tossing it deftly over one shoulder and choosing another.

"And you're absolutely certain it was a spaceship," he asked for something like the seventh time. Rosie rolled her eyes, exchanging an exasperated look with Billie before answering.

"Yes, Doc, I think I know a ship when I see one, and that was definitely a ship." The Professor shot her a look, but didn't say anything; he hated being called 'Doc.' The Time Lord tossed a fifteenth tie away, glancing at his companions in the mirror.

"Well, I suppose we should go and have a look, seeing as how it's an unnatural technology given the times." The Time Lord picked up a final tie – a striped red and white one – and began putting it on. "You see anyone interesting while you were out," he asked, smiling.

Rosie shrugged. "Not really, just a lot of buildings. It's weird, but that part of the town is empty." The Professor spun around, grabbing the coat he'd picked out; he wore a light tan trench coat and khaki pants, a blue dress shirt tucked into the pants with a red and crème striped neck tie.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" He strode out of the room, bursting back into the TARDIS control room with a grin. "Now," he said, pushing several buttons in succession on the console. "It's likely to be heavily guarded and not too friendly to intruders. But, what's the fun without a little danger, eh?" He flipped a lever.

"I'm bringing us in silently, we might need the stealth." The Time Lord thought for a second. "No, scratch that, we will need the stealth."

The TARDIS appeared silently, though not exactly in the right place. The ship appeared as a large sphere on a pedestal, obstructing a hallway. The Professor opened the door slowly, glancing around before stepping out. He looked his ship over as the others exited.

"That," he said. "Could be a problem. Hang on for just a minute." He jumped back into the ship and it disappeared, its usual noise ringing out in the corridors. Seconds later, it reappeared, the same sound heralding the approach of a square column set flush against the wall. The Time Lord stepped out of the ship, looking quite pleased with himself.

"All I had to do was supersede the chameleon circuit for long enough to land her," he said, grinning.

"Well, nice going and all," said Athena tensely. "But you've thrown subtlety out the bloody window with that stunt, Doc." Concern flashed across the Time Lord's face for an instant.

"Yes," he said. "Well, I suppose we can only hope for the best now."

_The last thing _Drake had been told was that, though AVALANCHE wasn't likely to send people, if they did, it would only be one or two. So, he was not expecting half a dozen intruders to come striding down the hallway, let alone one in full battle armor.

"Stay where you are," warned the S.O.L.D.I.E.R., his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his sword. The one in the lead, a tall blonde man in a trench coat, stepped forward.

"Sorry, but I have authorization to be here," he said, pulling a slip of paper from his pocket and handing it to Drake. The black clad man stared at it blankly for a moment before throwing it back.

"How stupid do you think I am? That's just blank paper." The blonde sighed.

"Well, it's psychic paper," he sighed. "It usually works." He shrugged. "I guess I don't have authorization then. Any chance you could just let me through anyway?" The S.O.L.D.I.E.R. shook his head, drawing his sword slightly.

"You're gonna stay where you are," he said. "Not one of you is going to move, understood?" The blonde nodded his head, looking back at his group. He seemed to give a signal of some sort, though. One of the girls – the one in the green and silver robes – shouted something that sounded like "stupidfy" and then all Drake knew was darkness.

The Professor stared at Athena, half shocked, half impressed at her reflexes. "How very…timely," he said. "I suppose we can't just leave him here," he said. "If you would please tie him up, we'll have to bring him along for now." The Time Lord set to operating the lift with his sonic screwdriver. The doors opened and the group, plus one hovering unconscious guard, stepped in.

The Professor smiled at the music that began playing, though it seemed to annoy the other passengers. Stern had, after only ten seconds, replaced his helmet on his head and had muted outside noise.

After several minutes, the doors opened again, the Professor stepping out into the nearly completed ship's engine room. There was, at the center of the massive room, an oddly metallic sphere set upon a pedestal, doors opened wide to reveal a gigantic inside, wires and cords going from the inside of the sphere to every part of the ship.

The Professor's smile vanished, clenching his fists as he looked at another TARDIS. "No," he breathed. "No, this is a dream, a hallucination from the regeneration. This can't…they can't have." The Time Lord stepped forward, toward the sphere.

_a/n] well, it's a cliff hanger, but that's two in one day. _


	4. HalfTruism

The TARDIS crew looked around the second ship. "Sir," said Stern. "What is this? I thought your ship was unique."

"I thought it was," said the Professor. "The TARDIS were supposed to be extinct after the time war. I guess this one must have…fallen out before it was sealed. Not impossible, but highly unlikely." The Time Lord stepped up to the console, which had been torn apart and clumsily put back together. Carefully, he pushed several buttons, looking to the monitor screen, which displayed odd text.

"Oh my," said the Professor, reading the words on the screen. "The poor thing crashed several centuries ago. I don't think it can fly on its own power anymore."

Rosie stepped next to him. "What language is that," she asked. "It looks familiar."

The Professor looked at her. "Yes," he said. "That is old High Gallifreyan. The written language of the Time Lords. If you can keep up, one day I might teach you." The girl glared at him, but didn't say anything.

"Now," said the Time Lord, walking around the tattered console. "What we need to do is disconnect this thing from the rest of the ship. The last thing we need is to leave Time Lord technology in the hands of businessmen. Could you imagine it, they'd tear this galaxy apart. So, basically, just tear out any wires you see going out of this ship. Everything. I might be able to disconnect the time vector generator after that so that it seals itself."

The crew nodded and set to work, completing their task fairly quickly.

_Drake_ awoke in a strangely high-tech looking room, the group who had attacked him rushing about, pulling cables out of a console in the center of the room. He reached for his sword, and was relieved to find it still in place. There were ropes strewn about him, as if he had been tied up, but the knots had simply undone. The S.O.L.D.I.E.R. stood up cautiously, drawing his blade.

"Freeze," he shouted. The entire group spun, all of them pointing something at him. "Look, I don't know what you people think you're doing but I have a job to do and that means you can't go destroying company property. Now lay down your weapons." The armored giant stepped toward him, his chainsaw like weapon pointed at Drake.

"You don't seem to see the disadvantage you're at, do you, boy," asked the giant. Drake gripped his sword tighter, swinging it in a quick arc, slicing the weapon in half with a smirk.

"No, not at all," he replied. "Now step back unless you want that to be your head." The giant stood his ground; Drake readied his sword for a second strike but the blonde man yelled,

"Stern! Give him room." The giant looked over his shoulder with a look of the slightest disobedience, but bowed his head slightly, stepping back several feet. The S.O.L.D.I.E.R. looked at the leader of the group.

"This isn't what you think," said the blonde. "I'm the Professor and these are my friends. This," he said, motioning around the room. "Is an alien craft. Type 87 mark 3 TARDIS to be precise and this technology is far too dangerous to let your company have. Look what they did to your planet! Could you imagine the damage they'd do if they could access all of time and space? I can't let that happen."

"I'm sorry," said Drake. "But I have a job to do and that's that."

"Then I'm really sorry about this," said one of the girls; the one in silver and green. She pointed a small wand at the S.O.L.D.I.E.R. Drake swung his sword instinctively, releasing the pent up mako energy in the form of a single bolt of blue light that rushed at the girl.

Had the energy impacted the girl, it would not have killed her, but as luck would have it, the girl in yellow and black robes pulled her conspirator to the floor, leaving the energy to crash into the control console.

_The Professor_ ducked as the console exploded into life, the time rotor cracking in half. The Time Lord looked up at the controls, panic sweeping his face as he read the text rushing across the screen. He spun to look at the S.O.L.D.I.E.R., rage and fear painted on his face.

"You idiot! You've overcharged the Eye of Harmony. It's going to slip its bounds and go wild. This world is doomed unless we can figure something out!" The Professor ran around the console, pushing several buttons.

"Doc," yelled Rosie. "What is going on?" The Professor spun, looking at the girl.

"The Eye of Harmony is overloading, which means that a black hole is about to swallow this ship and everything around the planet for several light years. And I have no idea how to stop it!" He looked down at the console, thinking for an instant before springing up.

"Right," said the Time Lord, pulling out the underside of a panel. "There's exactly enough time to get things in order and send this thing into a supernova on the other side of the galaxy before the whole thing goes _slurp_!" He pulled a small crystalline object from the underside of the panel, running to the doors. "Come on," he said, motioning to the rest of the occupants of the ship.

_Rosie_ followed the Professor into their TARDIS, watching as the Time Lord plugged the crystal into the console. "Right," said the Professor. "Rosie, I need you to come over here. Hold down that green button over there." She did as he asked, watching the Professor as he ordered the others to pull levers or press buttons.

"Ok," said the Professor, running to the doors, the crystal in hand. "Stay there and keep the controls in that position; I need you to keep the energy channel open so that I can set that TARDIS to moving. I'll be right back." He darted out the doors.

Rosie sighed internally, glad that everything was under control. She jumped as the TARDIS motor started, letting go of the button she was supposed to hold down.

"Rosie." It was the Professor's voice, resonating from the console. "Athena, Billie and everyone else." An image of the Professor appeared between the console and the doors; a crackly but distinct hologram. "This is emergency protocol one. The TARDIS is going to take you all home. This means I'm dead or about to die." Rosie ran to the doors, trying to open them. "And now I'm sure you're whining and moaning, but listen; I'm not going to let you go down with me." The hologram Professor smiled slightly. "But I want you to all do something for me; have a good life. Do that for me. I know you'll make me so proud."

_The Professor_ sighed as he pushed a button on the TARDIS console. There was a low rumbling, but the ship was moving at least. He leaned against the console, pondering his fate. He didn't want to die, but he really saw no other way. Hopefully by now they were all at home and living their lives. With a pang, his mind turned to Rosie. She was as homeless as he was and now, she didn't have the TARDIS. Still, she had her keyblade, and could travel space and time at her leisure.

Somewhere in the depths of the ship, the cloister bell sounded, and the Time Lord sighed again.

_Rosie_ banged her fist against the door, trying to fight tears. "That idiot," she said, stepping to the control panels. "What makes him think he can just do this? It's not fair!" She pulled out her keyblade, swinging it wildly.

"Stop," said Athena. "Rosie, he wouldn't do this unless there was a good reason." The Slytherin sighed. "I mean, we need to figure out how to steer this thing so we can go get that moron and you'd know better than the rest of us how to do that, right?"

"Actually," said Rosie. "I don't really know how to do much with the TARDIS. I can't override the programs." She sighed, looking around the room.

_The Professor_ jumped at the sound of another TARDIS. The Time Lord stared as his ship appeared, a sleek silvery sphere in the control room. The Professor stared as Rosie exploded out the doors, her keyblade glowing slightly golden.

"You moron," said the girl, grabbing the Time Lord by the neck of his shirt. "Get in the TARDIS!"

"How did you do this," said the Professor. "The TARDIS should have – "

"Yeah, yeah," said Rosie. "I spoke to the heart of the TARDIS and she agreed to bring us back here. Now get in the ship!" The Professor followed the girl into his ship.

"Right," he said, smiling as he stepped into his fantastic ship with his amazing friends.


	5. The Master Tape

Lexus Sabathon had long since figured out that his god, Khorne, had lied to him, but he had no idea how to escape him. He had fled Chaos Space to an unknown planet that, with luck, no one would find him on. He had lived there for several years with such luck, save for one day when a lone Iron Knight scout found the planet. The young Knight had found him and was about to kill him, when Lexus said he wished for redemption. The Iron Knight had sent a message to the Imperium and Lexus was to be blessed in the name of the Emperor.

Before the Knight could perform the blessing, another ship, unknown to either the Empire or the Chaos Fleets, came and began digging at the planet. It dropped a huge chunk of rock onto the planet. At the peak of the chunk was a strange Obelisk; Lexus sensed that it reeked of Chaos and he was willed to follow it, with the Iron Knight in tow. The Iron Knight who followed was killed, crushed by a piece of falling debris. Lexus took the torso of the Iron Knight and put it in the cargo bay of his ship with a short prayer.

Lexus carefully made his way to the place where the obelisk had fallen, marveling at the size of the thing despite the dense aura of Chaos that it exuded. The Marine stood in awe and horror as the Warp opened around it in a storm, swallowing him up.

Lexus fell through the Warp, and though he had no sense of time, it seemed to him after he left it that he had been there for eons. The Marine looked around his new surroundings; he was in a vast city, buildings scraping the sky. The entire city felt of Chaos. The Knight strode forward, toward the source of the Chaos.

A snarl resonated from an alleyway as the Marine strode, but he continued without incident. Lexus grasped his scythe tightly, seeing several shapes dart past through the corner of his eye. The Marine snarled, double checking the lock on his helmet as a creature staggered from the shadows.

_The Professor_ leapt across the control room, pulling a lever as the TARDIS shook violently.

"What's happening," yelled Drake, clutching the console. "I thought you were setting us down gently on Earth!" The Professor smiled wryly at the S.O.L.D.I.E.R., pressing the stabilizers.

"So did I," said the Time Lord. "But I suppose not. It looks like the TARDIS has other plans." The ship landed, the engine shutting down as the Time Lord relaxed, leaning against the console.

"Doc," said Rosie, striding into the room. "What was that? I assume that we're not on Earth for a peaceful Easter holiday?" The Professor smirked at her, checking the monitor.

"No, it looks like we fell through a storm in the Vortex to a planet on the other side of the galaxy. Lopra Minor. Lovely little place, home to a group of humanoids called the Salturans. Fantastic little race, but they had a major extinction event about seventy-five million years before your time. Nobody's entirely certain why, though."

The Time Lord leapt across the control room, smiling. "Well," he said. "Shall we go greet a lost civilization then?"

He opened the door, leading the rest of the crew with him.

_The first thing_ Rosie saw was the skyline in the dusk; it was the largest city she'd seen since leaving Cybra. The second thing she saw was the destruction around.

"No," said Stern, real fear tingeing his voice. "This place is lost to Chaos. We must leave. Now." Rosie looked back at him, then to the Professor.

The Professor's eyes darkened for an instant, but he stepped forward. "No," he said. "Look around. This world didn't fall too long ago. There may be survivors."

Rosie looked to the Time Lord, nodding.

"Now," said the Professor, looking to each of them. "Keep on your guard, but don't attack unless you have to. Most likely, the invaders will be alien. But that doesn't mean anything." And he led the way into a ruined city swarming with Chaos.


	6. Countdown to Destruction

Lexus stopped, leaning against a wall to catch his breath; he'd been attacked by a group of creatures. The beasts were a composite made of the bodies of the dead inhabitants of the planet twisted into gruesome shapes only the Chaos gods could have dreamed up. The Marine had been forced to dismember the creatures to get them to stop moving. His scythe was still dripping from the work he'd been doing. The Marine stood up, having rested as much as he needed to after slashing his way through dozens of mutated, Chaos filled monsters.

A low hoot rang out from the alleyway to Lexus' right. A creature same barreling at the Marine, its almost reptilian head looking up at him as it slashed at his armor. It was nearly strong enough to trip him on its own. Lexus swung his scythe, cleaving it in half cleanly, the two parts splitting, each half of the head looking up at him. There was another cry and three more creatures, identical to the first, darted out of the shadows. The Marine drew his pistol, took aim on their legs, and fired.

_Stern's_ helmet registered the sound of a plasma pistol. The Knight hastily scanned the area, frantic to find the fellow Marine, though he thought it unlikely that it would be anything other than a servant of Chaos.

The group was moving swiftly through the ruined city in a hasty formation, toward the source of the Chaos; while they had seen no survivors, neither had they seen any sign of the invading forces. There was only blood and the occasional body.

The Iron Knight stopped in his tracks for a moment when the scan completed. His helmet detected not only another Iron Knight's signal but that of his own brother. A low growl escaped his lips, though it went unheard by the rest of the group as he caught up with them in several long strides.

Lexus had turned to Chaos over a dozen years previously, to Stern's dismay. Though, to the rest of the Imperium, Lexus Sabathon had died that day, Stern had been convinced that he could redeem his brother; he had fought against him and had sensed the slightest hesitation in Lexus' scythe, though Stern had been prepared to end his brother's life. Then, barely five years ago, a report was received that Lexus had been found on a deserted planet by a fellow Knight. According to the Knight, Lexus had deserted Chaos and was requesting a blessing in the name of the Emperor. Though, when Stern and his platoon arrived, they had only found a dead Knight and a deserted ship.

The group was stopped by a gate, beyond which Lexus' signal was resonating. The Professor pulled out his sonic device, unlocking the gate and allowing them to enter. That was when the creature struck.

It only vaguely resembled a human, though at one time it may have; its arms were raised above its head, spikes of bone protruding from the hands. Its mouth was opened unnaturally wide, a guttural roar escaping it as it moved forward far too quickly.

Two shots rang out at once as Stern pulled his bolter and fired. Stern's shot hit the beast squarely in the head while the second ripped its legs from under it.

The Iron Knight turned to see his brother's Chaos armor, patched caringly with pieces of his old Iron Knight armor.

_The Professor_ looked between the two Marines, unsure. "A friend of yours," he asked Stern. The Knight looked at him, the mechanical glowing eyes of his helmet feeling as if they could bore a hole into the Time Lord.

"Once," said Stern, clenching his bolter pistol. "But he betrayed his own. That man is a traitor who must be dealt with." The Knight leveled his weapon with the newcomer.

"This is not the time," said the newcomer, putting his pistol away quickly. "I am not your enemy here, Stern. I have turned my back to the gods of Chaos."

"Wait a moment," said the Professor, looking at the slain monster. "There's a more pressing matter than your little squabble here."

The Time Lord stepped over to the fallen creature, examining it carefully. "Oh no," he muttered. He pulled a thin, delicate looking instrument from his inner coat pocket; scanning the creature quickly with it, his eyes widened in shock. Rosie squatted down beside him.

"What is this thing, Professor," asked the girl, looking worriedly at him.

"What does it look like, Rosie," replied the Time Lord quietly. "It's a Salturan. A Salturan who has been dead for nearly fifteen hours. We just walked in on their extinction event."

Rosie stared at the Professor. "I suppose we can't just leave, can we," she asked, trying vainly to smile. "I mean, this would be a fixed event in history, right? And we can't just skip out on whatever it is we're supposed to do." He nodded at her. Their eyes met and for an instant, the same thought resounded through both of them, '_another world I have to watch burn._'

The Professor stood up, looking between the two Space Marines; Stern seemed as volatile as ever, but said nothing as he watched the Time Lord.

"Whatever this invading force is," he said. "It reanimates dead flesh, though I'm not sure how."

"I can answer that question," said the new Marine. "There are creatures flying around here that infect the corpses the others kill. They have a kind of stinger and they inject something into the head and then the person changes."

The Time Lord crossed his arms, pacing slowly. "An infection," he said. "That would make sense with the readings I got from that one; a psychic mutagen. But something has to be controlling it." He looked at the Marine. "And for that matter, how did you get here? The ancestors of the human race have barely crawled from the sea and yet here you are."

"Right, well, my name is Lexus Sabathon. And I believe that I have seen the thing controlling these creatures. It was a black obelisk. The thing was dropped onto the planet I was hiding on and shortly after, a Warp storm swallowed it and drug me along."

"This is all very fascinating," said Drake, looking at the Professor, his sunglasses discarded. "But we were just attacked by a hostile corpse and I for one don't feel like chatting while the enemy has a chance to regroup." The Time Lord nodded, looking to the rest of the group.

"Be on your guard," he said. "Lexus, how do we stop them?"

The Marine looked around, trying to pick out another target. "Take them apart. Nothing else seems to work on them."

"Would have been better if a shot to the head was the answer," said Rosie, half smiling.

"So," said Drake. "We have to cut them apart?" Lexus nodded. Drake drew his long, curved sword, smirking. "This should be good," he said.

The Professor looked to the witches. "Pi-edi," he said. "Protect Billie and Athena."

"Excuse me," said Athena, hands on her hips. "We don't need a babysitter, right, Billie?" The Hufflepuff nodded quietly. "At the very least, we can do more than you. You don't even have a weapon." The Professor grinned slyly.

"Don't need one," he said.


	7. Dance to the Death

The Obelisk stretched up and up and up. The Professor could see it from the room where they were stationed at the moment. They had fled the streets after being attacked and had barely managed to slip silently into this room due to Billie's quick spell work.

Below, there was an almost gorilla like monster patrolling the streets, slamming its massive arms down on the street as it did.

"How much longer are we going to have to hide up here," said Drake, boredom and anger edged in his voice.

"Until that thing down there is gone," said Rosie, frowning. "I don't like it any more than you do, but we can't just run out there with those things hunting us." Drake sighed and muttered something.

The Professor looked over at the Marines, who were scanning the surroundings. They had hardly gotten along since they had met, but the Time Lord wasn't going to press the matter. However, the matter of Lexus was perplexing; the way knight had described the 'storm' that had dropped both him and the obelisk here sounded far too much like the untempered schism back on Gallifrey.

He thought about his initiation into the Prydon Academy back before the Time War. The schism had felt as though it were staring back at him, though he knew that wasn't possible. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something watching him now and despite his best efforts to shake it, it was the same feeling of being watched as he had felt those two centuries previously. Though whether or not that watched feeling had to do with the psychic presence surrounding them or not was yet to be seen.

"Alright," said the Professor. "Drake and Billie, I need you two to come with me." The crew looked at him. "We're going to get the TARDIS," he explained. "I need Billie to make us invisible again and Drake in case that doesn't work. The rest of you wait here." The witch nodded, pulling out her wand as the Professor stepped to the door. Billie waved her wand, rapping the Time Lord over the head, then following suit with Drake and herself. The Professor shivered at the feel as the spell washed over him, but was pleased, nonetheless.

"Billie," said Athena, looking slightly to the left of where the three were standing. "Why don't you just apparate?" The Hufflepuff smiled, though no one saw it.

"I could," she said. She grabbed the Professor's sleeve, and Drake's arm. "I passed my test on the first go," she assured them. "So I don't think we should splinch too bad."

"Splinch," repeated Drake, raising an unseen eyebrow.

"If it happens," said Athena, still looking to their left. "You'll know what it means."

"I don't know about this," said the Professor. "Is this really a safe mode of transport-" he was cut off as Billie turned on the spot, pulling them with her.

To the Professor, apparition felt quite a bit like being subjected to intense gravity and then pulled along on his stomach. The feeling went on for what felt like several minutes until, with a sudden _crack_ they decompressed, standing on the street barely a block from the TARDIS.

The two men panted slightly, looking at Billie. "You people do that thing often," asked Drake. The witch nodded.

"All the time," she said.

The Professor sighed, smiling slightly. "I will never understand humans," he said.

A low growl made the Time Lord realize what he was missing; they were visible. And had made a loud noise upon their arrival. Drake had already drawn his sword when the Professor told them to run. Billie waved her wand and several creatures fell, paralyzed as Drake darted forward, deftly slicing the legs out from under one, following through with the swing to hack through the torso of another.

They ran, the Time Lord fumbling the key to the TARDIS for a second before the door swung open. The Professor pulled out his sonic, the device giving off its usual _whirr_ as the doors sealed themselves.

The Time Lord sighed, smiling despite the banging against the door as he stepped to the console. He pushed the controls, looking at the monitor. He worked the controls quickly, setting the ship into motion; the group back in the room was bracing the door, though the metal of the door was bending and crinkling.

"Right," said the Professor, working the ship swiftly. "When we land, get those doors open. We have to work fast here."

_The TARDIS landed_ just as the door began to give way. The doors opened, Billie and Drake holding open the way into the sphere. The group flooded into the ship, Rosie running up the steps to the console.

"Couldn't have been a little quicker there, could you," she asked, panting slightly.

"Sorry," said the Professor, smiling slightly. "But this old girl only moves so fast."

"Where are we going," said Athena, sighing as she leaned against the wall.

"That should be obvious," said the Professor, pulling a lever as the TARDIS set down. "We're going to take a closer look at that obelisk." The Time Lord dashed down the steps, stopping beside Lexus, looking up at the Marine, who was marveling at the size of the ship's interior.

"You doing alright," he asked.

"It's…" stammered the Marine. The Professor smirked.

"Yeah, it's bigger on the inside. You get used to it." The Time Lord opened the doors, looking up at the spiraling black obelisk.

"Now," said the Professor, pulling out his scanner, running it across a section of the obelisk. "What are you?"

"Professor," said Rosie, who had followed the Time Lord out of the ship. "This thing doesn't feel right. It's like it's watching us." The Time Lord nodded.

"I know. I feel it too," said the Professor, looking back at the open doors of the TARDIS. "Everybody else, stay there. This thing is intelligent somehow." Lexus and Stern stepped out, Lexus looking at the obelisk, Stern watching his brother. "I thought I said to stay in the ship," said the Professor, sighing heavily.

"Sir," said Stern. "I couldn't leave you alone out here with him. And besides, I'm accustomed to resisting Chaos." The Professor sighed, stepping around the tower.

The Time Lord stared blankly at the middle of the two spiraling pillars, where a swirling blue vortex was raging. "What is going on here," he said.

"That," said a voice from the vortex. "Should be obvious by now, Time Lord."

"Who are you," called the Professor to the voice.

"Sir," said Stern. "You shouldn't speak with it. The gods of the warp are tricky with their words."

"Aah," said the voice. "The Marine speaks the truth. However, I am going to speak the truth with you, as I was ordered." The Professor looked up at the warp vortex.

"Then who are you?"

The voice chuckled. "I am Tzeentch, god of change."

The Professor's eyes scanned the obelisk. "Okay then, Tzeenech, why are you here?"

"I was ordered." The reply was simple, and if there was any sort of emotion in it, it was lost on the Time Lord.

"By who?" The voice was silent, but this didn't stop the Professor. "Okay then, how do I stop the signal you're broadcasting?" The Chaos god remained silent. The Time Lord's eyes lit up. "Well," he said. "You can stay quiet if you want. But tell your boss that I'm going to be coming for him soon." He pulled a small panel from the obelisk. The vortex flickered for an instant, but didn't go out.

"You win," chuckled the voice. "But I have stolen from you, Time Lord." The Professor glared.

"Professor," called Athena from inside the ship. "Something's wrong. Help!" the Professor turned to see Pi-edi collapsed on the floor of the TARDIS. The Time Lord ran to their side, kneeling beside the fallen Jedi.

"My head," said Pi-edi. "It hurts." The Professor touched his fingertips to the man's temples. And turned, rage filling his eyes at the obelisk.

"I'm sorry," said the Time Lord, looking down at the Jedi. "I can save you, but you won't remember anything from your travels. I have to lock your memories of this time."

"Well," said the Jedi. "It is for the best, perhaps."

And The Professor acted. He didn't think of the friend he was losing or how he wanted nothing more than to kill the one who had caused this; those thoughts would come later. For that moment, there was only action. If he stopped to think he would burn just as quickly as Pi-edi's mind. So he acted, and nothing more. That was his first loss, but far from his last, for such is the path of a Time Lord.


	8. Prayer of the Refugee

The Professor hastily worked the controls, grinning madly as he dashed about the control room. He'd been acting thusly for almost a week since they had departed Coruscant, leaving an amnesiac Pi-edi in the Jedi temple and Rosie to wonder if perhaps this was the Time Lord's way of coping with loss; if perhaps someday, he'd be dancing around in an empty TARDIS, having left behind the rest of them.

Still, the past week had seen a highlight; they had gone on a pleasure cruise, or rather had stowed away on an expensive space cruise in the seven hundred and sixty-eighth century, taking turns with the Professor's psychic paper to enjoy the various pointless amenities available on the ship. They had seen a supernova up close and had visited a city on Mars built seventy million years before the modern age of humanity.

"I think," said the Professor, pushing a final button and turning away from the console. "It's time for a visit, don't you?" Rosie blinked, uncertain.

"A visit," she asked. "To where exactly?"

The Time Lord smiled, looking to Billie and Athena before saying, "Hogwarts. Not quite the same time, mind you, but I thought it would be nice to see familiar places." The TARDIS' engines shut down as he said this, a dull _thunk_ sounding as they landed.

"When, exactly," asked Athena, incredulously.

"November first of 1981," replied the Time Lord. "Second biggest celebration in wizarding history, if I have my facts straight." Billie's eyes lit up, looking at the door.

"Then last night was the night Voldemort was defeated the first time," she asked, excited. The Professor nodded, smiling.

"Now," said the Professor, looking to the remaining group. "I think we ought to change into something a little more fitting considering where we're going." He reached into his pocket, withdrawing a ball of string which immediately began to snake its way across the floor and down one of the hallways. At the raised eyebrows in the room, he elaborated, "it's Mondasian smart fiber. I left a snippet of it in the wardrobe room and now it's slithering off to reattach the missing piece."

The Time Lord led the way, following the thread down a long corridor and into a cathedral sized room. There were several stories, each linked by a spiral staircase, the walls covered all the way up in clothes.

"Alright," said the Professor, looking around. "Robes are on the third floor, section 'C'."

_Hogwarts School _had hardly changed since they had left it; the autumn wind whipped through the trees pleasantly, and though lights light filtered down from the windows of the great hall of the castle, there weren't nearly enough of them for a celebration of the proper magnitude to be going on inside.

"Ah," said the Professor, checking his pocket watch. "I seem to be just a little off. It's September first, not November first." He looked again at the watch. "And it's not 1981. It's 1892." The group stopped, staring at the Time Lord.

"It's when," asked Athena, glaring at the Time Lord.

"Wait," said Billie, turning and running back to the TARDIS, returning only a few seconds later with large, black leather bound book bearing gold letters spelling out the words _Hogwarts: A History._ "1892," she said, browsing the book. "Was the year Headmaster Dumbledore started his first year at Hogwarts."

Athena's eyes lit up, and the Professor smiled.

"Shall we go then," said the Time Lord, striding off toward the castle.


	9. Second Chance

_The sorting ceremony_ at Hogwarts school was much the same as it would be a century later; students were called one at a time to the front of the great hall where the sorting hat sorted them into one of the four houses.

The Professor smirked to himself; getting into the school had been easier the second time around. A simple enough trick of the psychic paper had gotten the entire group into the ceremony and seated at the head of the Slytherin table. The Time Lord smiled as Albus Dumbledore was called to the front; Billie and Athena leaned to see the auburn haired boy step up to the stool at the front of the room where the hat was placed on his head. The sorting hat took only an instant to proclaim "Gryffindor!"

Athena sighed audibly as Dumbledore took his place at the Gryffindor table.

_The headmaster of Hogwarts_ was a small, round man with silvery hair and eyes. As he approached the Professor, Rosie had the thought that the man looked as if he were in need. The Time Lord glanced back at the group as he spoke with the Headmaster, nodding occasionally. After several minutes of quiet speaking, the Professor laughed, nodding vigorously as he shook the headmaster's hand.

"Well," asked Rosie as the Professor stepped over to the group of travellers.

"Well," answered the Time Lord. "We're staying until their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher returns from Egypt. Apparently, he went into one of the pyramids back in June and vanished. So I'll be teaching with you guys acting as my assistants."

Athena's jaw dropped. "You _can't _be serious," she said aghast. "You don't have even the slightest idea about magical defense. You can hardly keep from being killed by the TARDIS, let alone by magic. You're not even a wizard!" The Professor smirked.

"Do I have to be," he asked, striding out the doors of the Great Hall.

"Yes," protested the Slytherin. "It's a requirement to even _be_ in Hogwarts that you be a witch or wizard. Billie and I are on the register in our time and even Rosie and Drake can do a little magic. But you and Stern shouldn't even be able to see the school, let alone teach at it."

Behind her, Stern huffed; he'd stripped of his armor and was wearing a tunic and trousers made of the skin of some animal with a large, black eye patch which functioned to cover his glowing red mechanical eye.

"Perhaps," said the giant. "The young lady is correct. We can't hope to fool these wizards forever. And neither of us have the knowledge required of such a post."

"We'll be fine," said the Professor, smiling. "Trust me. Have I ever led you astray?"

"It seems like you do every other day," muttered Athena under her breath as she continued along the path back to the TARDIS.

"But this time will be _different_," said the Professor, smirking.

_The Professor_ stood at the front of his first class, the first year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. The Time Lord had abandoned his usual outfit for a dark red velvet suit with a cravat tied around his neck. "Alright class," he said, smiling. "I'm Professor Colin Baker and I'll be covering your Defense Against the Dark Arts class until Professor Sullivan returns from Egypt. Unfortunately, that may take a little while." He paused, still smiling.

"But, I believe that we will learn quite a bit from each other while we are together. Now, can anyone tell me the purpose of this class," asked the Time Lord. Several hands went up immediately.

"Right," said the Professor, looking over the half dozen hands in the air. "Young Mr.…Dumbledore, right?" He asked the auburn haired boy.

"Yes, sir," said Albus, nodding slightly. "The purpose of this class is to teach us how to defend ourselves against dark magic"

The Professor smiled. "Yes and no," he replied. "Yes you are here to learn how to properly defend yourself against the Dark Arts but no, that's not the entire purpose of the class. Just knowing how to defend yourself is good, but unless you understand why and when, then the power to do so is useless." The class watched and listened silently as the Time Lord paced back and forth across the room.

"For instance," he said. "If you saw a wizard about to cast a curse that would kill several dozen people at once, it would be better to save those people before attacking your enemy. That is what you will be learning whilst in my class; not only how to defend yourself but how to defend others as well."

_Rosie_ stood at the back of the class room, watching the Professor speak about defending the helpless masses from evil. The girl smiled to herself, musing for a few seconds on how simple the universe would be if protecting everyone were as easy as he made it sound. Still though, she did find it assuring that the Time Lord was back to his normal self.

As she stood there, the thought occurred to Rosie that teaching seemed to be such a natural thing for the Professor; he stood and spoke as if he knew exactly how to get the class' attention and keep it on him and his every word. She wondered why it had never occurred to ask him what he had done on his home planet though it could easily have been anything. Of course, he had never asked her about her home world either.

It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that Rosie wasn't even aware she'd made with him; she didn't ask about his home and he didn't ask about hers. It felt strange, knowing that she hadn't spoken to the Time lord about Cybra.

While it was true that when they had first began travelling together, the loss of her world had been a fresh and gaping wound, one that still hurt to think about, over time it had become manageable. She still missed her old life, but now it seemed that she had a new one to fill the void.


	10. Turn back the Pendulum

_And now, just for a moment, let us take a look not into the future but the past, as events that have occurred previously may shape those that are to come for even those adrift in the sea of time are subject to the effects of their own past._

The Professor, though it would be some time before he would call himself by that name, was eight years old when, as custom for Time Lords, he was brought to stand before the untempered schism, the ancient rift in the fabric of the universe that had, in a way, created his people. As the boy stood there, staring into the raw might of the time vortex, his head was filled with visions he couldn't understand and wouldn't recall later.

He saw a group of people gathered around the body of a fallen comrade, a tall blonde man whispering something to the person on the ground, though he couldn't see who it was. He saw the death of Gallifrey in fire and the entire Time War. He saw a small, caramel skinned girl wielding what looked like a giant TARDIS key, battling a tall, thin man clad all in black. There were flashes of red lightning where another girl had her palms against the ground, drawing a pair of swords from nowhere. He saw two giants walking a circle before a creature covered in flames and blood.

The boy fell backward, his head and hearts throbbing in tandem

_It was some time later_ when the boy, now out of the Prydon academy though still not yet known as the Professor, walked into the chambers of the Lady President of Gallifrey. The boy's mother was in the later years of her third regeneration, a fierce looking woman with gray streaking through her hair like lightning in a storm cloud. She had been gazing out of the window of her office, but as the door closed, she smiled widely at him.

"You've grown," she said jokingly. In truth, all that had grown since his nineteenth birthday, which had been nearly a century before, was his hair which now hung just past his shoulders, a recently popular style.

"Or you've shrank," he scoffed, grinning widely.

"I am sorry that I couldn't have been there," said the Lady President, turning to look out the window once again, at the forest of red and silver that was her private lands. "But all this business with Skaro has had me tied up in bureaucracy and war talks. This is the longest time I've had to myself in weeks."

"We both understand your duties, mother. The good of Gallifrey should come before smaller matters, though it wouldn't have killed them to let you have a few hours off to see a little bit of wedding. I mean, does the High council really think the Daleks are that much of a threat," asked the boy. It was obvious that he didn't think the Daleks were anything to be afraid of. "A nice long flight of stairs is all it takes to trip them up." The Lady President chuckled lightly but didn't smile.

"The council has been speaking of preemptively striking at Skaro. They seem to be harboring the delusion that they can somehow scare the Daleks into backing down."

"Maybe they can," replied the young Time Lord. This only gained a sad look from the Lady President; she knew better than to give in to her son's foolish optimism

_The boy was _in the middle of his own presidential campaign when war was declared. After more than a century and a half of hostility, the Time Lords had fired the first shot in what would become the most devastating war in the universe. But nobody on Gallifrey knew that. It the popular mind, it was thought that the Daleks would bow to the superior might of the Time Lords within a few days.

And the boy was no different in his thinking; he had never seen a living Dalek and knew what they looked like only from pictures and museum exhibits. So of course, it was a shock when every able bodied time lord outside the academy was drafted into the army and placed in their own TARDIS to go into battle.

The Time War was brutal. The young Time Lord had never known conflict that couldn't be settled with, at the most, an exchange of fists, yet here he was flying a ship into the heart of the enemy, leading on a monstrosity known only as the Nightmare Child in the hope that the Dalek fleet it was flying into would be destroyed and he would be able to escape.

As the war had raged on, the people of Gallifrey had grown more and more desperate to end the war, to the point of usurping his mother's seat as president and resurrecting old Rassilon in her place. Rassilon was a genius in the art of war, but also a man of greater cruelty than the Daleks. He commanded entire legions into suicide missions, only to use the same legion again at another point in their time line.

It was because of this that a certain renegade Time Lord had built a device known only as 'the moment,' a machine that would create an infinite paradox across the entire Time War, essentially wiping out both Skaro and Gallifrey in the process.

_The boy sighed._ He adjusted the controls of his TARDIS, checking the monitors to assure himself the monster he'd been charged with was still in tow. Sure enough, he could see the Nightmare Child, following dutifully. He smirked, thinking of the explosives he'd fabricated which lay within the depths of his ship, ready to rip apart both his ship and the monster he was leading into battle.

His ship rocked as it was hit by a blast from the Dalek Crucible, a massive saucer holding nearly a half billion of the Kaled mutants. The boy adjusted his speed, towing the Nightmare Child faster, flying straight at the saucer. As he closed in, he lowered his shields; even better to destroy a Dalek ship along with himself and the abominable nightmare he was towing.

He pushed a button, releasing the Nightmare child from its tethers. The boy readied himself as the jaws of the monster closed around both his ship and the Crucible and with all the determination he could muster, he pushed the button to detonate explosives with enough power to shatter his entire timeline.

And then…nothing. He had expected pain at the very least. Instead, everything seemed much the same. He checked the monitors, looking for any sign that he'd made even a scratch on either of his targets but what he found was nothing. There was no sign of the Nightmare Child or the Crucible. He checked his instruments, looking for any other Time Lord ships. He found none.

Somehow, though he wouldn't find out how for many years, the boy who would soon call himself the Professor had missed the end of the Time War. Not only had he missed it, he had escaped it.

_Now, let us take a look at yet another piece of this mosaic, at another place and time._

Rosie sighed as she boarded the train for school. She'd almost missed the bullet train again this morning, which would have been a disaster for both her grades and attendance record. She closed her eyes, leaning back in her seat as the train took off from the station. After a few minutes, the train's acceleration leveled out and she opened her eyes to look around. The train wasn't as crowded as usual, which she was thankful for; large crowds were not something she particularly cared for. In her section of the train, there were only three other people; an old woman holding a handbag that seemed several times too large for her to carry, a balding man in business clothes and a tall, dark haired man in a red suit.

There was something disconcerting about the way the dark haired man was looking at the business man. Granted, the balding individual was looking severely unwell; he was sweating and his skin had taken on an almost purplish hue while the whites of his eyes had turned a pale yellow color. Rosie turned her head, trying not to think about what the bald man might have or how contagious it might be.

The train arrived at its destination after what felt to Rosie like hours, though both the clock and the conductor said it had only been fifteen minutes. The girl shook her head as she left the train with the elderly woman. She was glad to be rid of the two unsettling men, though something still seemed off. She looked around, uncertain of what it was for a few seconds until it hit her that the usually crowded train station seemed almost deserted. She glanced at the few dozen people around her, looking for any sign of whatever illness the bald man on the train had been suffering from but quit as she was shoved aside by a large man. She glanced at her watch, and felt her heart racing; she was nearly late for school.

_The rest of the day_ seemed to fly by. Rosie looked around, but didn't see any more people with the symptoms that she'd seen the bald man suffering from. It was later that night before she even saw anything out of the ordinary.

It was the middle of the night. She wasn't sure why she'd woken up at first, but then she heard it; a rapping on the bedroom window. Rosie sat up in bed, looking at the window where the tiniest shadow could be seen through her curtains. She reached up, pulling the curtains back and nearly screamed.

There were outside, no less than a half dozen creatures clinging to the wall, looking in her room with glowing yellow eyes. The glass smashed, a clawed purple-black hand reaching in and dragging her out as she screamed for her parents.

_The fall from her bedroom window_ should have killed her. It was five stories up, but she was okay when she touched the ground. She ran, bare feet pounding the pavement as more of the yellow eyed creatures appeared from everywhere. She tripped, slamming into the ground and one of the creatures was on top of her, claws sinking into her. Any second, she knew, she'd be gone, but the pain of the creature's claws ripped through to her core.

"Hey," said a voice somewhere above her. There was an explosion somewhere above her; her vision cleared and she saw the same tall, dark haired man from the train standing above her, a large triple barreled gun in hand.

_They ran._ Rosie had never ran so fast before, and the claw marks in her side burned like lava flowing through her body. "Duck," said the red suited man, pointing the gun where her head had been seconds before.

The resounding shot almost knocked Rosie off her feet again, if not for a strong hand holding her up, half dragging her forward. She was thrown onto the floor of something, a door slamming closed behind them.

"What….where are we?"

"It's a gummi ship," replied her savior. "We have to leave this world. Now."

"But…" Rosie looked out the window as the ship began moving, seeing the world beginning to turn dark. "My home." Her savior sighed.

"I'm sorry."


	11. Fighting

The Professor darted around the control room, flipping switches hastily. "Alright," he said, checking the monitors quickly. "Earth, North America, 2013. This signal is something big."

"How big," asked Athena, trying to keep her balance as the ship rocked. The Time Lord glanced back at her.

"Big enough that I went and snatched a man from Egypt and took him home so we could leave," he said, exasperated. "Hole in the fabric of reality big." The Professor pulled a lever, checking the monitor once more.

"I'm reactivating the chameleon circuit, so don't forget what we parked as," said the Time Lord as the engines stopped their moaning.

_Sara Akira McNeil, better known to the world as Sam_, was at her usual game; hacking into the city's stoplight cameras. It wasn't a difficult thing to do and, in fact, it was fairly amusing to watch the people carry on with their lives from the safety of her home. Not that she was afraid of going outside. Quite the opposite, in fact; she found it boring.

She flipped between the cameras, occasionally saving a frame onto her hard drive. She did this for nearly an hour until something caught her eye; a red phone booth, its windows frosted, fading slowly into sight.

Sam stared as it finally stayed solid, its door opening and a tall blonde man stepping out into the street. He was followed by three girls and another man wearing all black and finally, a giant in what looked like armor.

She followed the group through the cameras into a building bearing the mark of the UN intelligence taskforce.

Hacking into UNIT was child's play for her. She'd written security programs for her own network that were stronger; it took her less than three minutes to be looking through the cameras in the UNIT base. The major upside to this was that the base's camera system came with sound.

The blonde man strode down several hallways, leading both his group and several soldiers toward a heavy looking metal door. One of the soldiers stepped forward and pressed a series of numbers on the keypad beside the door, which gave a loud _buzz_ before swinging open. The group entered the room, the soldiers staying outside as the door shut. Several clicks later, Sam was looking down from the camera in the sealed room.

"_So," _said Drake, looking at what looked like a burned and beat up oil drum. "Thing thing is giving off a signal? Doesn't look very techy."

The Professor ran the sonic screwdriver over the outside of the drum, glancing at the readings the device gathered. "Looks can be deceiving," he said, dusting off the side of the canister. He stared at the circular script he'd uncovered. "I know these characters," he said, scraping off more dirt. He stopped short, staring at the circles in careful concentration.

"Ark of what," he muttered. Rosie stooped down next to him, staring at the circles.

"I thought the TARDIS was supposed to translate written languages," she said, looking to the Time Lord. "Why can't I read that?"

"Gallifreyan doesn't translate. The Time Lords didn't think anyone would need it to be translated."

"Well," said Rosie. "What does it say then?" The professor looked over at her.

"I'm not sure," he said. "This last character could be anything. It's too corroded for me to tell. But it's the ark of something."

"If it's from Gallifrey, couldn't it be something good? Like a message from another Time Lord," asked Billie. The Professor looked back at her.

"Or," he said. "It could be a weapon. I'd rather not take the chance." He looked to the keyblade wielder. "Rosie," he said. "Can you seal this thing for good?" the girl nodded, summoning her keyblade.

"I think so," she said. The Professor nodded, stepping away from the cylinder.

"Good," said the Time Lord, looking at the ceiling. "Now I have one question. Who is watching us?"

"_Who is watching us?"_ Sam nearly fell out of her chair. The blonde man was staring straight into the camera. He pointed a strange device at the camera which made a noise through her computer speakers. The light on her webcam turned on and the man stared at the monitor installed in the wall of the room, where she could see herself.

_The Professor_ looked at the dark haired, bespectacled girl in the monitor. "How'd you do that," she said. The Professor smirked.

"I've hacked more complex things in less time," chuckled the Professor, watching the girl. "Now who are you?" The girl smiled, pushing buttons on her keyboard.

"This is who I am," she said, striking a final key. The screen went dark, emblazoned with only the letters 'SAM.' The Professor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the camera again, and the screen burst once again into life.

"Oh no you don't," said the Time Lord, looking to the girl on the monitor. "Athena," he said. "She's about two miles east, second floor of the house." The witch nodded once, turned on the spot and disapparated.

There was a knock on the door behind the girl on the screen. She jumped out of view of the camera as Athena opened the door, striding over to the girl and grabbing her arm. There was a _crack_ as they vanished from the room and reappeared seconds later.

_Sam coughed_ as they reappeared. She looked around at the group of people surrounding her. "How," she sputtered, glaring at the blonde man.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said , smirking. "Sorry about the rough landing but we can't really take the chance of you messing the systems here up until after we're done."

Sam glared at the blonde. "Who are you, how did you get me here and what is going on," she demanded.

The blonde sighed. "The Professor, magic, and unless Rosie can get things figured out, an alien invasion on this planet."

Sam stared at the man. "Magic," she asked. "Are you insane?"

The Professor smiled at her. "Well, some people think so," he said. "Quite a few people, actually." Sam glared at him.

"There's no such thing as magic," she said. The girl who had barged into her house chuckled.

"Just what you'd expect from a muggle," she said. "Throw real magic in their face and watch them deny it all day." Sam looked at the green robed girl, making it obvious that she didn't approve of being called a 'muggle.'

"I only believe in what I can see and touch," said Sam, crossing her arms. "For that matter, I don't believe in aliens."


	12. Running

She hated running. Sam was much more suited to sitting behind a computer than running for her life. When she came to an intersection, she paused to catch her breath. She had three options; continue straight, turn right, or face the monster she was running from; Daleks. Murderous robots, though the Professor had seemed to think they were alive. It was the Professor's fault that she was here and not in the sanctuary of her computers, running for her life from evil trash cans. Ahead of her, she could hear the echoes of a group of Daleks coming from one of the other two hallways. The way their robotic voices echoed off the walls made it almost impossible to tell which hall it was. Behind her, she could hear a single Dalek shouting 'Exterminate.' There was a scream as another member of UNIT was killed by the creature.

Leaning against the wall so that she could see all three hallways she felt the pistol protruding behind her back. Stern, the armored giant, had given it to her when the Daleks had appeared, snatching it from the body of a dead soldier. Despite her obvious disdain for guns, Stern claimed it was 'better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.' She couldn't argue with the accuracy of his logic so she accepted it with the usual frown on her face.

There was a 50/50% chance she would pick the safe hallway if she went to the left or straight ahead, give or take percentage for luck; she didn't like her chances in a one-on-one battle with the Dalek to her right, though it was certainly better than her chances against the horde of them that waited down one of the corridors. Estimating she had only seconds to make her decision before the lone Dalek would be within sight, Sam withdrew her weapon from behind her and aimed at the empty space where the Dalek would soon appear. Seconds ticked by. Sam audibly sighed breaking her aim and stared at the ceiling. She hated fighting. Killing and brute strength were what the weak at mind did to compensate for their obvious lack of thinking capacity.

"Think," she told herself. "There's got to be a way out of this. Just think."

She could imagine the Professor answering her in a slightly sarcastic tone. _Are you not smart enough to beat one little Dalek? I'll help you but only if you concede defeat to my superior intelligence_.

Sam chuckled lightly. _Never_, she thought looking back at the hallway with a new determination in her eyes. She had decided she would best this thing with her intellect. Sam holstered her weapon just as the Dalek came into view.

"Hold on," she said raising both hands in a surrender position. "I surrender."

"You will be exterminated," it replied.

"Surely I must be worth more to you as a prisoner than as a corpse. After all, I'm a friend of the Professor's. Imagine the information I could tell you."

Her ploy worked. The Dalek seemed to think it over before lowering its laser. Sam lowered her hands. "You will tell me all that you know or you will be exterminated."

The Dalek's mechanical voice vexed Sam's nerves with every syllable it pronounced, cold and full of hatred. Her thoughts flashed to the pistol once again but the thought left her mind as quickly as it had entered.

"If I tell you everything that I know, it could take a while," she said cynically.

The Dalek raised its laser again and repeated in an almost impossible angrier voice, "You will disclose all that you know about the Professor or you will be exterminated."

Okay! Okay," she said quickly putting her hands up in the stop position. The Dalek kept its laser trained on her. _Ingenious, Sam, _she thought._ Tick off the creature with the big ass laser gun. How about we keep the wisecracks to ourselves_? She lowered her hands and asked, "Why must I be exterminated?"

"It is our duty. We are following God's orders," said the Dalek. "All inferior beings will be exterminated."

Sam quickly glanced behind her. The sounds of the other Daleks were getting closer. She estimated they would arrive in minutes. She could now tell which hall they were in but it was too late to run. Her only choice was to defeat this Dalek in front of her before the others arrived. This one had taken the bait but it only took one shot from the Dalek's laser for her life to be over.

She cleared her throat then asked, slightly mocking the Dalek's tone, "How am I inferior?"

"All beings are inferior to Daleks," it said. "All that is inferior will be exterminated. That is the will of God."

Sam forced back a smile. It had said exactly what she wanted it to. "Why were you chosen to exterminate these other beings?"

It was silent for a second. "We follow God's orders because God is supreme," it finally replied.

"Does that not make you inferior to God? What do you think will happen to you when God decides to get rid of the inferior Daleks?" The Dalek fell silent again. The lights flashed on its head.

"It is not the place of a Dalek to question orders. Daleks are soldiers." _Ah crap_, Sam thought. _That completely backfired_. "You have no useful information," screeched the Dalek. "Exterminate!"

She flinched and closed her eyes as the fiery explosion sent her flying backwards. She hit the ground with a hard _Thud_.

_Pain_, she thought confused. _I thought you didn't feel any pain when you died_. Slowly her senses came back to her as she heard a muffled voice calling her name.

"Sam? Sam! Oh, bloody hell! I would love to be a little more sympathetic right now but the situation calls for otherwise. Now can you hurry up and get off the ground."

She was fully aware now as she saw the figure of the Professor standing over her. "Professor?" she asked in a confused voice.

"In the flesh," he replied holding out his hand to help her up. "Now if you wouldn't mind getting up, I'm in a bit of a rush."

She took his hand and he helped her up. Still a little dazed it, took her a moment to figure out what had happened. The Dalek she had been speaking with stood a few feet in front of her, its metal casing shattered. The Professor had arrived at a crucial moment and killed the Dalek before it had a chance to fire. However, the close proximity of the Dalek to Sam made the resulting explosion knocked her to the ground, but apart from a couple of burns and cuts, she was fine.

She turned to the Professor and a little reluctantly said, "Thanks… you know. For saving me."

"Yes, yes, yes," he replied very hastily. "You're eternally grateful. You owe me your life. There's no way you could possibly repay me. How about we save the praise till we're somewhere where I can fully appreciate it."

Sam's face flushed with anger but the panicked look on the Professor's face made her look behind him. He had just come from the hall where the pack of Daleks was and they had just caught up. A chorus of 'Exterminate' echoed throughout the hall.

"You've got to be kidding me," she complained.

"Afraid not," answered the Professor with a maniac grin, grabbing her wrist and dragging her. "Come along."

They dashed passed the fiery Dalek and headed down the hallway that led to the TARDIS. "Oh great," Sam groaned. "More running." She hated running.


	13. The Empty City

They were cornered. The Daleks were coming in from either side of them, and Stern was ready to take a last stand. He and Drake had their blades out and ready, facing either direction that the Daleks would be coming from.

"There has to be a way out," said the Professor.

"Well," said Rosie, looking to him. "There is. But you won't like it." The time Lord turned to her.

"At this point, anything is better than being exterminated," he replied. Rosie nodded.

"Hang on," she said, summoning her keyblade. "This is going to be a little weird." She plunged the keyblade into the wall behind them. Then all was dark.

_The Professor _fell to the ground, gasping for air. They were in the ruins of a city; roman style pillars surrounded them at equidistant points, forming a hexagon.

"What the bloody hell was that," said Athena, standing up. Her glasses were askew and her hair was rumpled, but otherwise, she was fine.

"Interdimensional travel," answered the Time Lord standing up. "Nasty little trick, but it got us out." He didn't sound very pleased about being safe, but the witch shrugged it off.

"Which is great and all," said Drake, sheathing his sword as he got to his feet. "But how do we get back?"

Rosie sighed, her keyblade gone. She looked tired, but was still standing. "It's going to take a few hours, but I think I can get us back by tonight."

"Where are we getting back from," asked Billie, looking around. "And can you get us somewhere away from the Daleks when we go back?" Rosie smiled at the witch.

"I dunno," she said. "I've never used the keyblade to travel between worlds like that before. I don't even know if that's how it's supposed to work." The Professor sighed, looking around at the seemingly deserted buildings of stark white stone standing in a circle around them, casting shadows in the dull sunlight.

"Well," said the Time Lord. "I guess we should go and see what we can find. But please, try to keep a low profile.

_Eve_ was tired. Not physically – she was hardly ever physically tired any more. She was mentally exhausted. She'd been alone save for her father in the ruins of Xerxes for years now and, though she was certain he had been a kind man before the incident that stole her memories, he was now a maniac, constantly trying to experiment on her, to learn the limits of the regenerative power she'd gained.

She was sitting atop a house when she first heard voices. Not the odd, echoing ones that she occasionally heard, but real, distinct voices coming from the distance.

_Sam _sighed and crossed her arms as they walked. She couldn't believe she was stranded in another dimension with these lunatics. The Professor chuckled, looking around.

"The buildings are similar to European style architecture," he commented. "But something's wrong here."

"Yeah, said Drake. "And let's make sure we're gone before we get wrapped up in it."


	14. Taken

Eve sighed, sitting on a bench in the shade of a building. She looked toward the sky, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. It was pointless, she told herself, to be worried about these strangers. Despite their odd clothing and accents, they seemed harmless. And in any case, none of them seemed like alchemists; leastwise, none had displayed any alchemical ability and even the most skilled alchemist would need time to construct an array to transmute with, a weakness she no longer shared.

In fact, she told herself, they wouldn't be able to hurt her in any way she hadn't already been injured by her father. Still, though, the city was large and if these people were bandits, they would be the first of many. It had been several months since the cataclysm and the entire kingdom was deemed to be cursed by the outside world, so it had remained untouched except for the thousands of corpses which had rotted away to nothing in the harsh summer.

Eve chuckled to herself. It was silly, really, to be afraid of the first people she'd seen in months that weren't either corpses or actively trying to kill her. "That settles it," she muttered to herself. "Time to go see what the fuss is about."

_The Alchemist moved stealthily,_ carefully blending into the shadows around the town square. Though he hadn't any idea where the strangers had come from, he wasn't interested in their origins. Indeed, he could care less about the rest of the world, so long as they left his city alone. He was the king of Xerxes now, and that was how it would remain.

The group in the town square was smaller than it had been several hours previous; about half had left, almost certainly wandering the city streets looting any piece of gold they saw. The alchemist clenched his teeth, glaring at the three foreigners sitting in the shade of the buildings – his buildings. He readied his knife, moving forward to strike. He would take the yellow clad girl hostage; the man in black and the giant wouldn't touch him while he had her. The alchemist smirked, stepping behind the pillar the girl was sitting against. As he clenched the handle of his blade, he saw a shape move out of the corner of his eye. The giant stood over him.

_Stern's_ fist connected with the stranger's ribs, almost certainly snapping a few. The man flew across the ground, hitting one of the pillars with a dull _crack_. Billie looked up at the giant, shocked.

"Did you kill him," she asked, aghast. The marine shrugged.

"Probably," he said. "He'd have done the same to you, so what's the loss?" The Hufflepuff looked away for an instant.

"You didn't have to kill him, Stern," she scolded.

"Not to worry, miss," said a voice from behind Billie. "He didn't kill me." The stranger was standing, his blade poised to strike.

Stern pushed the witch aside, his massive power sword slashing downward only to be caught by the stranger's hand. There was an electric crackle and a red flash and Stern's sword splintered into a million pieces. Drake moved forward to attack the man, only to be thrown back by another blast of red energy. Stern swung his fist, aiming to connect with the stranger's face. Instead, he hit what felt like a wall, the armor on his right arm shredding in the same way his sword had as he skidded across the ground.

"_Stupefy_," shouted Billie, her wand pointed at the stranger. The jet of red light flew true, only to be deflected several inches before striking its target. The Alchemist smirked, his palms hitting the ground, red energy spiking out to the pillars. There was a rumbling in the ground, and the sound of something moving. With a _whoosh_, and several gigantic rings arose from the ground. There was a flash of light and the rings descended, leaving only an empty space.

_Eve_ recognized the sound of the rings even from half the city away. She looked to the street below her, where the four outsiders who had ventured deeper into the city stood, looking for the source of the noise.

Eve sighed wearily and, after a second's thought, leapt from the rooftop she was standing on.

_The Professor_ jumped backward when the girl landed in front of them. As she straightened herself, Rosie's keyblade leveled itself with her chest, her eyes blazing.

"What's going on around here," asked the Professor, his gaze nowhere near as intense as that of Rosie or Athena, who had drawn her wand as well.

The girl sighed, brushing a strand of her red-blonde hair out of her face. "My father," she started. "Has taken your companions to his laboratory."


	15. Rage

The Alchemist's lab was dark, though it was obviously cavernous. The only light came from candles standing on every surface possible. Beakers and jars of oddly colored liquids stood on a series of shelves, carefully placed beside notebooks upon notebooks.

Drake gritted his teeth, straining against the stone he and the others had been incased in up to their necks.

"You have comrades still within my city," said their captor, drawing a circle on the floor with a piece of chalk. "I imagine that by now they've discovered you are missing. Tell me, do you think they will spare any time to look for you or will they take all the gold for themselves?" Drake rolled his eyes.

"How many times do we have to tell you," said the S.O.L.D.I.E.R., more annoyed by the man's persistence in his delusion than even the bindings he had trapped them in. "We are _not_ here for gold." The alchemist glared at Drake, making only a miniscule movement. The stone rose up, covering his mouth.

"You can lie all you want. Really, your friends can even come looking for you, I don't mind. I'm always looking for new power sources."

_Eve_ stood at the center of the town square. The Professor and his group, Rosie, Athena and Sam, stood several feet away.

"I'm not really sure how this works," she said, looking at the array made of bricks. "It doesn't act like a normal transmutation; it's more like a transfer of energy."

The Professor stepped toward the outer portion of the array, just inside the pillars. He bent down, examining the stone that made up the circular portion of the array. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his sonic screwdriver, running it over the stone as it whirred. He stared at the readings for a moment before cracking a grin.

"Oh, Fantastic," he said.

"What," said Eve, striding toward the Time Lord. "What could possibly be good about this?" The Professor turned to her, still grinning madly.

"Do you know what this stone is," said the Professor. The alchemist stared.

"No," she said. "Granite or something. What does it matter?"

"Wrong," said the Professor. "First off, it isn't even rock. It's metal. A very special metal."

"Care to be a little less ambiguous, Doc," sighed Athena. "Not all of us can speak rock." The Professor shot her an annoyed glance, but continued.

"This is Naquadah," said the Professor. "Ring any bells with anyone?"

"I've heard of that," said Sam. "The government has been experimenting with it for a while. It's some sort of super power source, isn't it?" The Professor nodded.

"Among other things, yes, Naquadah can be used as a power source. But the way it is here, it's more likely a piece of hardware of some sort. Probably a transport or-" He stopped dead, looking around the array. "OF COURSE," he shouted his grin widening.

"Why didn't I see it before," he said, more to himself than to the rest of them.

"Maybe because you're dense," said Athena, gaining a chuckle from Sam. The time Lord rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, maybe," he said. "Either way, I know what this is and how it works."

_Stern_ struggled vainly against his stone bindings. Their captor was examining his armor closely, a wide, crooked grin across his face.

There was a loud _whoosh_ as, without warning, the rings that had risen from the ground in the town square rushed down. There was a bright light and, with another _whoosh_, the rings rose again, revealing the Professor, Rosie, Sam, Athena and someone new.

The Professor smirked, looking to the new girl, who was half crouched, her hands on the ground.

"I thought so," said the Time Lord, looking around the room. His eyes lit up. "Oh, this place is beautiful."

"And who might you be," growled the alchemist, clenching his fists as he strode forward toward the Professor.

"Customarily, one would give their name first," said the Professor. "But, I suppose I haven't met very many well-mannered people lately."

"Father," said Eve, cutting the Time Lord off. "Father, I implore you, let these people go. They mean no harm."

"Eve," said the alchemist with an evil smirk. "How kind of you to return home after all these weeks. Your father was worried." At this, the alchemist threw out his right hand in their direction and flung at Eve what looked to be a cannonball. The girl was just as fast though; a silver dagger, shaped roughly like a snake's fang appeared in her hand, deflecting the projectile into the ceiling, where it impacted as two separate pieces.

There was a loud crack as the Alchemist was impacted by a jet of silver light, throwing him several feet back. Eve looked to her side, where Athena stood with her wand drawn and pointed at the alchemist. The man stood, smirking at the witch.

"Such interesting abilities you have," mused the alchemist. "But I can't have something so troublesome in my laboratory. You might break something." The man raised his hand in front of him, his fingers pointing upwards.

Red light exploded around Athena, and she fell to the ground, motionless. The Professor swooped down, a silver device scanning the fallen witch.

"She's okay," said the Time Lord, looking to his companions. "He just paralyzed the neural relays to her voluntary muscles." He looked to the girl. "Athena, listen to me. You're going to be fine. Absolutely fine, but I need you to not panic."

The Professor stood, his eyes blazing at the alchemist. "Undo what you just did to her," said the Time Lord.

"No," said the man, smirking at the Professor.

"I wasn't asking," growled the Professor, his gaze burning into the man. The alchemist smirked, red light streaking around the Professor, but leaving him unharmed.

"No," said Eve, her hands on the ground. Her father's smirk died, replaced by a furious scowl.

"Don't interfere you impudent brat," growled the alchemist. Red light flashed, and a pillar of stone flew at the girl.

There was a green flash and the stone split apart, falling to the ground and revealing the Professor, rage blazing in his eyes. In his left hand he held the sonic screwdriver, but in his right was clenched none other than Pi-edi's lightsaber.

The alchemist's gaze didn't falter in the sight of the Professor; in fact, it seemed to become more heated, rage growing in tandem with the Time Lord's own.

"You are quite the troublesome little human," growled the alchemist. "Tell me, where did you get that device?"

The Professor smirked. "For all the good it would do someone like you to know the origins of my technology, I may as well try teaching mathematical codes to an ant." The Time Lord was mocking him, and not even trying to hide his contempt. His friends stared between him and the alchemist, Eve alone knowing the consequences that would come if the Professor continued to infuriate her father.

The alchemist growled, stepping forward for the first time since Eve had led them into the laboratory. The Professor smiled his lightsaber at the ready as a stream of rock shot at him with the force of a cannon. The laser sword ripped through the rock as though it was little more than water, the Professor reaching the Alchemist in a blur of green light. The lightsaber slashed through Eve's father with less resistance than the stone he had transmuted.

Electricity crackled, the alchemist smirking as he punched the Time Lord, knocking him across the chamber. Eve was at her father's side, her arm covered in black armor, claws raking the alchemist's face.

The man glared at Eve, fury exploding at the girl. "How dare you," he yelled, the back of his hand striking her across the face. Red lightning crackled between them, part of Eve's face peeled away but healing with red electricity.

"How dare you, a homunculus _I_ created strike me?" The alchemist made another movement toward the girl, but was met instead by Drake's sword which severed his hand cleanly. Rosie, while the alchemist was distracted, had freed the others from their bounds. Billie was currently seeing to Athena, muttering incantations over her while Rosie and Stern helped the Professor to his feet.

The alchemist growled, his hand reforming. "Out of the way," he said, flinging Drake away with no effort.

Eve was thrown to the ground by a blast of burning energy as powerful as it was corrosive. Eve could feel her skin being burned away slightly.

"I gave you life," said the alchemist. "It is time you gave it back." A circle appeared on the ground around the girl, panic clear on her slightly burned face.

"No," she said. The alchemist's maniac grin widened.

"Give me the philosopher's stone," he said, reaching toward Eve.

"_Avada Kedavara_!" The words rang out like a clap of thunder, the bolt of green light seeming to engulf the alchemist. Athena crouched on the stone floor, sweat pouring from the effort required of the curse.

The alchemist convulsed, red light sparking out from his body as he fell, collapsing into black ash leaving behind only a glittering red stone the size of a softball.


	16. Back to Home

An almost tangible silence fell in the alchemist's laboratory, crashing down on the room. Billie struggled to her feet, helping Athena up as well. The Professor stood, Pi-edi's sealed lightsaber in his hand.

"Is everyone alright," he asked, looking around the room. Drake grunted his reply, but he was the only one that did.

"Doc," said Rosie. "What's the plan?" The Professor glanced at her.

"It hasn't changed," he said, examining a panel sticking out from the wall. "We wait for your keyblade to recharge enough to get home and then set the charges for the Daleks back at UNIT."

"Well," said the girl. "Not to correct you or anything, but I don't think it'll be that easy anymore." The Professor turned around, intending to ask her why not, but saw the reason immediately; a great lumbering beast lurked in the doorway, its body something between bear and gorilla. The Time Lord cast a quick glance to Eve, all his questions in his eyes.

"It's one of my father's chimeras," said the alchemist. "We have to be quick, kill it before it can call the others." She clapped her hands together, energy sparking from her palms. The creature gave out a hideous whistling shriek, its clawed hands reaching for the alchemist as she slammed her hands against the ground, forming a pair of thin sabers.

Eve stood in a fluid motion, bringing her blades up and through the outstretched hand of the chimera. The beast shrieked in pain and made to strike at Eve with the other arm. It was at this instant that several things happened in very quick succession; a series of bangs, at least two of them gunshots filled the air, rocketing the beast out of the laboratory and into one of the fellows that had come to join it, a large heavy door slamming down between the laboratory and the hallway.

"That should keep them out for a few minutes," said the Professor, stowing his sonic screwdriver in a pocket of his long coat.

"You can operate the technology in this place," said Sam, glaring at the Time Lord. "And you just let that thing walk in here?"

The Professor looked at her. "I had a hunch, but I didn't know that was going to happen," he said defensively. "Trust me a little, I'm not always wrong." Athena chuckled slightly at this.

"Now," said the Time Lord, regaining his composure. "Good news is I can work most of the controls from this room. There's an interface panel," he motioned to a panel he had obviously removed from the wall, exposed crystals and wires sticking out. "And I'm more than a little clever with Alteran technology." He took a breath. "The bad news is our best shot of getting home is both out there and almost out of power. Now, under perfect conditions, I could just zap us to the gate room, but with the current restraints, I can't do much more than chart a course from here to there." He smiled weakly.

"Why can't we just apparate," said Billie. "We can get to where we're going and get out of here."

"Think about that," said Drake. "You really think you two can easily carry all of us more than a couple feet? And through a place you've never been? No thanks; I'll take my chances with the monsters if you don't mind."

"He's right," said Athena grudgingly. "We might end up inside a wall or something, best not to chance it."

The Professor looked to the rest of the group. "Well," he asked. "What do you say, shall we take our chances?" Stern stepped forward.

"Sir," said the marine. "I agree with Drake. Let's take our chances with the chimeras." Rosie nodded, smirking slightly.

"Right," said the Professor, smiling. He retrieved the sonic from his coat pocket, leaning over the panel.

An image appeared in the middle of the room; a 3D map of what looked to be – "A ship," said Stern, looking at the hologram. "This is a ship?"

"Of course it is," said the Professor, smiling. "Did you think it would have transport rings if it was just underground?" He seemed to think for a second because almost as soon as he said this, he answered his own question; "don't answer that."

The Time Lord pointed the screwdriver at the hologram. A series of colored lines crossed the map, all converging at a single place near the center of the ship. ""This," he said, speaking louder because of a sudden banging against the door where, undoubtedly several chimeras were attempting to break in. "Is every route to the gate room." He pointed the sonic at the map again, and all but a single red line disappeared. "This is our path. It's pretty much just a straight shot to the room. Down a hall and to the left. Got it?" The group nodded.

Stern stepped toward the door, his bolter pistol cocked and ready. "Ready when you are," said the giant, his mechanical eye blazing, and a smirk on his face. The Professor nodded quietly, the sonic screwdriver whirring at the panel.

The door slid open in a simple movement that, somehow, seemed to confuse the chimeras outside. There were two of them, massive reptilian looking creatures, spines, teeth and claws bared, but with a look of dumb confusion at the open door. Before the creatures had a chance to advance, Stern's pistol had fired a half dozen times and they were dead on the ground.

"Go," said the Professor, leading the way down the corridor, Pi-edi's lightsaber once again clenched in his right hand.

A chimera burst from a doorway at the end of the hall; it was the same one that had lost a hand to Eve. It snarled, baring curved fangs in its bearlike snout before charging forward. The Professor readied himself.

"I got this," said Drake from behind the Time Lord. The Professor felt himself being pushed aside as the S.O.L.D.I.E.R. moved, barely visible, his long sword swinging at least twice. The mess that fell to the ground was barely recognizable as a chimera.

"Which way," said Drake, sheathing his sword.

"That door," said the Professor, pointing to the entry from which the chimera had burst. They streamed in, the professor smiling slightly at the upright ring at the far end of the long room. It was taller than even Stern, and made of the same grayish black material that the ring teleports had been.

"That's neat," said Sam. "It's a teleport of some sort?"

"No," said the Professor, smiling. "That's a stargate."

"And it teleports stuff, right," said Sam, giving the Time Lord an annoyed look.

"Not exactly. It generates a stable wormhole long enough to facilitate nearly instantaneous travel between two points in space." Athena rolled her eyes.

"Which, I think, translates to 'teleport,'" said the Slytherin, giving the Professor the same look as Sam. The Professor shrugged, striding forward.

"If you must break it down to make it simpler," he sighed.

"You know," said Sam with an evil look. "I still have a bullet left in that gun. You can live with one knee. Or kidney."

"Just help me find the DHD," said the Time Lord, exasperated. "It's a panel with a series of buttons inscribed with glyphs," he elaborated, clearing off a panel on one wall. He used the sonic screwdriver, and a series of constellation like glyphs lit up on the ring. "It'll be those glyphs, by the way."

It took several minutes of searching to find the proper panel, faced away from the ring against a far wall; it was hexagonal, the glyphs etched into triangular buttons.

"Okay," said the Professor, looking to Eve. "I need a favor from you."

"Another energy transfer," said the alchemist. She wasn't questioning. "How much power?" The Professor sighed.

"About a billion times what was needed for the teleport outside," he said. The alchemist nodded.

"I can handle it," she said.

"Alright," said the Professor, pressing buttons. "Wait for the chevron at the top to light up, and then go for it." Eve nodded. "And don't stand directly in front of it," he said sharply, as the alchemist had crouched at the front of the ring.

The Professor pressed a ninth button, and looking at Eve, said "Now" as he pressed the unmarked button at the center of the console. There was a flash of red lightning and, after several breathless seconds, the ring ejected a what looked like a bubble of water which almost instantly retracted into the ring, leaving what seemed to be a pool of standing blue water in the ring.

"Go," said the Professor, motioning to his friends to run through the gate. Eve stepped away from the gate, watching them go.

The Professor stopped just short of the event horizon, looking at Eve. "Thank you," he said with a small bow. The alchemist smiled.

"Thank you," she said. "You'd better get going, won't it close without you?"

"Nah," said the Time Lord. "Listen, why don't you come with us?" He gave her a half smile. "You know, see the stars?" He held out a hand to her.

Eve looked contemplative for a few seconds. "For how long," she said, reaching her hand toward his tentatively.

"Until you want to leave," he said, grinning as she took his hand. They leapt through the stargate and out to an adventure.


End file.
